Bought a large lot of LEGO; what to do?

[rybass]

Long story short, I've bought about 75lbs of loose mixed LEGO from a local thrift. I've began sorting out the minifigs and any unique pieces and bricks so I can discern what sets may be in there but it is slow going. I also purchased a box from the same thrift last fall that appears to be a complete Hogwart's with a couple smaller sets mixed in. So far I have found: -Tie Fighter canopy -red "cow catcher" from a train -couple large flat wall mount skulls -the front and rear of a orange/ white jet liner -three small row boats -snap together tank like tracks My question: is it worth it to pull a full set out and sell it or better to sell the whole thing as a lot? There is just no way to tell if an entire set is in there without at least identifying and trying to build what I think is there. Is there an easy way to sort these? I'm using a milk crate to sift the large parts from the small parts but that is as far as I've gotten. Thanks!

[Diabolos80]

What you do with it kind of depends on how much you spent, how much time you have, and how much money you want out of it. Did it come with any inst. books? If it was me, I'd just separate it into bulk lots and pit them on ebay. So, take about a pound of random pieces per lot, and make sure each lot has a minifig and some nice, desirable pieces. Then start an auction at .99 cents and see what happens. Keep in mind I've never bought such a large lot, so this might be terrible advice.

[comicblast]

I would sort it by color, particularly the black and gray pieces, which usually fetch a higher price than other colors. If you truly cannot find any sets in there, I would just sell it off in increments of 5-15 lb lots. It's always too tedious for a buyer and seller to only receive a pound of LEGO if they really want more.

[mikeur86]

I went to a Garage Sale about a year ago and purchased a box full of Legos for $75.00. It turned out to be 65lbs. I spent weeks trying to sort out the sets, thinking that selling them as it's actual product would yield me the most money. However, after all that time I found that nearly ever set was either close to being complete or not complete. When I sold the ones that were complete it turned out the Selling per pound method would have made me more money. Usually Lego's are consistent to about $10.00 a pound on eBay plus shipping. However, as mentioned above if you break down in color you will find that it sells for more than a random assortment. My 2 cents, don't worry about breaking the sets down and spending all the time unless you have seen some sort of hint at a good set in there. For example, on shopgoodwill.com there was a lot and you could see in the pictures pieces of a modular set in there. If you see anything like that of course fish them out as that will bring you loads more than just selling them in bulk. Separate by color and get them organized in bags/boxes or whatever then figure out what you have. Seems like the best way to start.

[Huskers1236]

As others have said, if you don't see anything that sticks out as a nice set, I would sort by color and sell on ebay, especially if you don't have instruction books, that makes it hard. Clean it up and get rid of the junk, buyers like that. Edit: Red cow catcher is from Toy Story train.

[CNH1974]

It depends on what type sets you can "see" in there. And is it old Lego, pre 2000s. Small sets go for cheap money but it varies per theme. Town/City tend to be lower than space/Castle/Star Wars. But there are good and bad sets in all themes. Tip it all out onto the floor, separate it into color, wheels, windows, lights and 'special' pieces, then you may be able to see what you have. Do it in a room where you have some entertainment, like sports etc... I listen to podcasts or watch the Formula 1. Either way its going to take you a few months to shift if you want any sort of life . Have fun However you sell it, you should be able to double your money at the very least.

[rybass]

Haha so it looks like it's going to be a task no matter what way I go! Based off the minifigs it's all pretty recent. Star Wars with flesh heads, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story, Super heros, Prince of Persia, Indiana Jones, NBA?, and some Town and knights so far. There are three small set instructions, nothing large or too interesting. I would hate to start building a fill size tie fighter only to find out that I'm missing the parts for one wing. So I guess I'll follow the suggestions and sort by color/ type and sell those in lots. Thanks

[CNH1974]

You can still get good money (for weight) selling Star Wars sets for spares. I use www.worldbricks.com for the instructions. It's a slow site but good. And I bought this. http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Collector-s-Guide-2nd-Edition-5000221 It helps in identifying some sets. You can probably pick up a copy on eBay.

[Huskers1236]

It's lots like these that Bricklink is a man's best friend. Catalogs for sets with inventories. Look up special parts to see what set they go with. Select the parts needed to finish sets and buy from your wanted list. It's not the prettiest site, but it gets the job done.

[Ed Mack]

Separating the colors, sorting and bagging into pound increments brings back the most money. Grey/grays can bring over $10 a pound.

[CNH1974]

It's lots like these that Bricklink is a man's best friend. Catalogs for sets with inventories. Look up special parts to see what set they go with. Select the parts needed to finish sets and buy from your wanted list. It's not the prettiest site, but it gets the job done.

Peeron.com is good as well, if you have a Tie Fighter canopy Peeron can tell you what sets it was in. Once you have identified the set it will list all the parts in that set.

[taracook21]

I too recently bought about 32 lbs at a yard sale for $40. I have been trying to get up some of the sets. So far the best I have got was the Republic Attack Gunship (7676). I found that I only was missing 4 pieces out of the entire set! I even found all the minifigs! However, I have been disapointed when I know I have a partial set of the The Batcycle: Harley Quinn Hammer Truck (7886). I'm trying to decide if I try to complete the set by putting money in it or just sell what I have and see what happens on ebay. It has been a very slow process finding all the pieces since I only have an hour or two a day to devote to it. However, this is just a hobby for me and maybe I can use the earnings to by the big sets I want to build. I defiantly enjoy the building what I find better than digging through all the pieces to find what need. I have been using this site, bricklink, brickset, lego.wiki, and ebay to research what parts/minifigs go to what set. I didn't have any of the instructions at first so I downloaded to my ipad from lego.com to get the parts list for the sets.

[smuddger]

Hi this all depends on the time you have. I do this all the time you will get a feel for what is in the lot, ie by minifigs, instructions, special pieces. Bricklink is fantastic for this because you can search apart and it tells you what sets it appears in with all the info like price etc. If you want fast turn around bulk colours on ebay is good. I sell indivdual pieces on bricklink and have around 90,000 pieces for sale. i do not part out new sets like lots of people do but it helps me for when i want to build sets. I personally sort plates, bricks, wheels, technic, and small pieces. Then I go back and break bricks down again, by moving common bricks then plates out makes a big dent in the bulk box. Now if you didnt want to list individual items you could bag up say 100 2x4 bricks 3001 and list them on ebay, then 2x2 bricks, 2x4 plates etc, the large plates go for over

[akohns]

Thus is what I do week in and week out. Personally u find the smaller collections easier to deal with. After you've done it awhile you can pick out sets just by looking at a collection. What you want to do it identify if there are any really stellar sets that you might want to rebuild. I always start by picking out trash and sorting out mini figures and accessories so I can get an idea of what might be in the collection. You will probably want to figure out f you have any POTC large ships, any large castles or any higher priced Indiana jones sets. Those would be your higher dollar stuff. Also something to consider is what do you like to build? Of course this is assuming you want to spend a good amount of time sorting. Also consider if you want to keep buying collections having a base collection that is sorted to find missing pieces for the next collection you buy. I sort by removing large places and pieces in putting them in one container and any chunks of assumbled pieces that look like they are from sets (good clues) ad taking appart any chunks that done look like its from a set. I have a Lego head sorter that I use to sort buy alive after I've got that done. That allows me to find smaller pieces quickly. You can spend as much time or as little time building sets largest (or most valuable) to smaller. Any leftover figures sell in lots. Sell castle parts together in lots, etc. Don't forget to grab some pieces for your latest protect or your favorite theme.

[JoshTX]

A few months back I purchased about 40 pounds on Craigslist for 100 bucks. It is fun to dig through the pieces, but it is definitely a pain in the butt and very time consuming. There's just no way around it. I was able to dig out pieces I recognized from Star Wars, Power Miners and Pharoah's Quest, and built a couple sets that way. But it took FOREVER. Unless the set is high value, it may not be worth the time. I'm now preparing some smaller color coded bags to sell as the others have mentioned.

[kerrmando]

Or you all could sell the bulk to me... And I love buying it =) Then you all can put more money into the sealed stuff ;)